A few weeks ago, the Toronto Community Foundation released its most recent Vital Signs Report. These reports show that Toronto is not growing as a single city, but is slowly splitting into three distinct cities divided by income inequality. The report says in 1970, 96% of neighbourhoods in Scarborough could be considered middle class. Today the opposite is true: 83% of households are low income. Last year youth unemployment exceeded over 20% and the jobs that exist are often precarious. An entire generation is growing up unable to plan and build for the future. Around the same time that the report was released, I met with stakeholders from across Trinity--Spadina to discuss ways of reducing—and better still, preventing—poverty. I would like to recognize the work of St. Stephen's Community House, a non-profit organization in my riding, for their help in organizing this meeting and bringing these stakeholders together. These community service agencies, faith groups, housing advocates, legal aid lawyers, teachers and residents all offered various good ideas to tackle the issue of poverty. But one theme stood out above all: We can't keep thinking our personal interests are separate from the community's interest. We can't claim society's benefits as our rightful entitlement, while treating our neighbours who do not receive the same benefits as burdens. I would like to thank these community members for the reminder that prosperity cannot be sustained in a city divided by increasing inequality. October 29, 2013

• published: 29 Oct 2013
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